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| City Hall Balks
Gambling Probe at Riverview
Thompson's Aldermen Sidetrack Inquiry. Source: Chicago Daily Tribune, 4 August 1921, pg. 2. Riverview park and the paddle wheels and other gambling devices operated there with the consent of the city administration were attacked from three angles yesterday in the city council. Aldermen friendly to the city administration were on their feet in a hurry to meet each attack with requests that the incipient investigations be referred to committees. In two cases out of three they were successful, which probably means the orders are pigeonholed for at least three months, or until the council convenes Nov. 2 after its summer vacation. Ald. Guernsey and Maypole led the drive for law enforcement which Mayor Thompson's friends managed to throttle temporarily. Order Asks Ban on Gambling. Ald. Guernsey's order asked that law enforcement officers of the city uphold their oaths of office by stopping gambling. It said: "Ordered that the superintendent of police be and he is hereby directed to stop the operation of all gambling devices and paddle wheels in amusement parks." "These paddle wheels are being played by children not only at Riverview but in amusement parks on the south side near my own home," he declared. Ald. Mulcahy demanded it be sent to the police committee for investigation. This was done. Inspect Buildings at Park. Ald. Maypole sought the passage of two orders, one directing the building committee, the building commissioner, and the fire prevention bureau to make an inspection of "all buildings and structures" at Riverview park, and the other requesting the coroner to report the number of deaths at the park and the circumstances surrounding each in the last three years. Ald. L. B. Anderson, the mayor's council leader, flew to the defense of the park, demanding that the orders be sent to a committee without passage. The order on the coroner was finally passed, and the one calling for an inspection of the building was sent to the building committee. "I favor the investigation of both Riverview and White City buildings, and will do my best to make the inquiries live ones," said Ald. W. R. O'Toole. |
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Page authored: 5
August 2000 -
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